Ingrid Michaelson brings "Hell No" tour to Seattle's Moore Theater
When the lights dimmed down at Seattle’s Moore Theater last night, the audience went wild for their super woman, Ingrid Michaelson. Strings of white light swirled along the walls of the room and an ambient track made up of bits and pieces of Ingrid’s voice and music made her introduction powerful and immediately engaging.
She and her band, comprised of Guitarists Allie Moss and Billy Libby, Bassist Chris Kuffner and Drummer Sarab Singh, took to the stage and performed "Light Me Up." Very fitting, since it is the opening track from her latest album, It Doesn't Have To Make Sense. Ingrid invited the crowd to stand and sing-along during the song and then gave us permission to sit again when the song ended.
"We're gonna play an older song now," Ingrid shared and the crowd was audibly delighted as she grabbed her ukulele. She and her band played "Maybe" from her 2009 album, Everybody, and then they moved into "Parachute," which was never formally released on a record but was released as a single in 2010.
Afterward, Ingrid and her band moved into another song from the new record called "Another Life." The next thing she did was really cool; she had her band take a break and she played about 3/4 of her song "Corner of Your Heart" (from Girls and Boys) solo on ukulele and then transitioned into "How We Love" (from Human Again) and then transitioned back to "Corner of Your Heart," and it was really beautiful.
She made her way to her piano and shared a story about how Sara Bareilles' niece texted Sara and after going to Ingrid's show and shared that she loved that Ingrid closed with her favorite Twenty One Pilots song. "...Except that it's not a Twenty One Pilots song," Ingrid shared, "I don't know what the original is; I know it as an Elvis song. It's a song that every generation - people keep covering it because it's such a beautiful, truthful, wonderful song and I love hearing everyone sing along." Did you guess what it is? That's right, "Can't Help Falling in Love!" As you likely also guessed, it was gorgeous.
After that song, Ingrid made her way back to her ukulele at the front of the stage. She told a really funny story about how she was feeling a little old lately. She was watching Home Alone and decided that she wanted to look up how old the mom was when she filmed that movie. Turns out, she is the same age that the mom was - "I could have like four kids and forget one...twice." She continued, "I don't...I have a shitload of songs though!"
"If the song I'm about to play was a child, it would be 12! This is my 12 year-old." She started playing "The Way I Am" (from Girls and Boys) and then moved into "Be OK" (from her 2008 album of the same name).
After that, she welcomed her band and show openers AJR back to the stage to play a song that they wrote together called "Lotto." The song was super fun and I immediately went home and started listening to it. They then did a cute little photo op for the crowd and then the band sang "You and I" (from Be OK) at the front of the stage with Ingrid on ukulele.
The band members all resumed their positions and the energy was high for "Warpath" and "Afterlife" (from Lights Out). Ingrid made her way back to her piano and performed her 2009 single, "Turn to Stone" and it was absolutely stunning. Just stunning.
"I think we should do some songs from my new record..." Ingrid shared, and the crowd was excited for that too! She played "Still the One" and "Celebrate," which she prefaced with a funny and cute story about Jimmy Clarke, who's mentioned in the song, and how he's a real person from her life growing up.
She closed the show with an energetic performance of "Hell No," while the crowd sang along with every word.
And you better believe we hoped for an encore. I don't want to ruin it - so I will share that the WAS a great encore, but what I won't share, is what they performed - because I think you should go and experience it for yourself :)
It was easily one of the best shows that I've been to - Ingrid never ceases to amaze and one-up herself every time. She's amazing. She's still out on tour, so this is a great chance to catch her show in your city. See her website for tour dates!
Special thanks to Ben Trudeau for the photos!